If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

30,000 Layoffs. Solid prototypes can't get funding. Western Game Dev Is Breaking.

In this episode, Rich Vogel explains why Western game development isn't in a downturn, it's in a reset.

Fresh off fundraising conversations in 2025-2026, Rich breaks down why funding for large-budget games has nearly disappeared, why publishers and VCs are pulling back from North American teams, and how leadership decisions, not creativity, are sinking studios.

Rich is a 30-year industry veteran who's founded and led four major studios, including BioWare Austin and Sony Online Entertainment Austin, which have generated over $3B in revenue. As producer on Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, he's seen every cycle, and knows exactly why this one is different.

We cover:

• Why investors see Western studios as high-risk
• How salary inflation and entitlement narratives are reshaping where games get made
• Why unproven big bets are no longer survivable
• How small, shippable wins are the new path to scale

This episode is a wake-up call for studio heads, producers, and game leaders still playing by outdated rules.

Learn more about our guest:

🔗LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-vogel-093425/

🔗T-Minus Zero Entertainment LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/t-minus-zero-entertainment/

🔗Website: https://www.t-minuszero-relaunch.com/

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Newsletter Signup: The Building Better Games Newsletter

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

#GameDev #GameIndustry #Leadership #VideoGameDevelopment #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

You're doing the work, fighting for your team, but your ideas stall in meetings and people with less context somehow have more influence than you. It can feel like the only way to win is to become the political operator you hate.

In this episode, Ben breaks down the simple, three-part system for influence—the Influence Trifecta—so you can drive change for your team and career without selling your soul. Organizational influence is not just about who's right or what's logical; it's about understanding the social fabric of your organization.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• What influence without authority looks like
• Why trust is so important to your long-term success
• Why being "right but not helpful" stalls careers
• What to watch for so you don't become the "political animal"

You're always playing politics. If you choose not to play, you cap your influence and allow others to set the direction. Learn how to deliberately build influence for the benefit of your game, your team, and your own advancement in an ethical way.

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

#GameDevLeadership #GameStudioPolitics #InfluenceTrifecta #GameDevCareers #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Leadership in game dev is hard, but choosing to ignore the biggest technological shift of our generation is a high-stakes gamble.

In this episode, we talk with Benjamin Chevalier, Chief AI Officer at Mighty Bear Games, who has a uniquely informed perspective as an Art Director turned tech leader who has spent two decades building games for Ubisoft, Disney, LucasArts, and King.

Ben Chevalier outlines his pragmatic, principled approach to embracing AI: using it to cut through market saturation, accelerate team output, and manage risk without compromising creative integrity. From the moral and legal controversies surrounding AI training data to the cultural shifts required for engineers and artists to build their own tools, this conversation reveals the mindset and strategies a leadership team needs to not just survive but thrive in the new AI-accelerated development landscape.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

• Why AI may be an existential business decision
• Why governments won't halt AI development
• How "agentic" tools are reshaping studio culture
• How game dev leaders can get team buy-in on AI
• What others might think of you just for using AI

If you're a game dev leader thinking about how AI might help your team, this episode gives you a pragmatic playbook for adopting AI. Ben Chevalier lays down clear ethical guardrails and shows how AI can speed up prototyping, live ops, and decision-making—so you can level up your leadership and accelerate your team, game, and career.

Connect & learn more about Ben Chevalier:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminchevalier/

Medium: https://medium.com/@benjamin.chevalier

Studio Website: https://www.mightybeargames.com/

GOAT Gaming Platform Website: https://goatgaming.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mightybeargames

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

#GamingCommunity #GameDevelopment #AI #Leadership #MobileGaming